Injured women ‘groped and assaulted’ at Solis Festival after stage collapses

The Pakistani dance music festival was cancelled after the stage was invaded by fake ticket holders

Multiple women have reported being groped and assaulted after a Pakistani music festival descended into chaos.

Solis Festival, an Islamabad-based dance music event billed as Pakistan’s biggest concert series, had to be cancelled after a stage was stormed by hundreds of people holding counterfeit tickets.

After being denied entry, the interlopers broke through the barricades during a performance on Sunday 16 February, with many climbing onto the VIP stage inside, which subsequently collapsed and injured a number of guests.

One Instagram user named Shanza said: "[The stage] was almost seven feet high and I lost consciousness for a minute. All I remember is me struggling to get up and a guy starts snatching my bag. We're getting stamped upon and literally no one's helping... [people] start touching, groping and harassing us."

"Where are you now Solis festival? How are you planning on compensating the physical pain, mental trauma [and] sexual harassment?"

Another woman says she was spat on and groped.

Some people have posted footage of the incident on social media:

Solis Festival organisers gave a statement on Instagram, saying: “We chose the venue and our security based on the number of tickets sold... however we underestimated the sheer volume of fake tickets sold illegally.”

“”We are deeply sorry that this experience was ruined by others. We could not put your safety and security at risk and had to stop the event.“